I'm pleased to have this opportunity to give you an inside look at OSHA's goals, priorities and recent activities.

We all agree that preventable worker injuries, illness and deaths are expensive, disruptive, wasteful...and completely unnecessary.

ABC Initiatives

In ABC's August 21, 2009, news release, I was please to see Craig Shaffer, chairman of ABC's Environment, Health and Safety Committee, state that "It is of utmost importance to ABC members that every employee return home safely to his or her family at the end of the day."

We agree completely.

Thanks to ABC for offering its members its Safety Training and Evaluation Process (STEP) program to encourage contractors to evaluate and strengthen their worker safety programs. I'm also glad to read how ABC members that participate in STEP have far lower rates of worker deaths and injuries, as well as far fewer OSHA citations, and that this program serves as a cornerstone for many local and regional partnerships.

Thanks as well to ABC for offering safety classes across the country and holding its annual Construction Education Conference to promote workplace safety and health.

I know you're eager to hear about the future of OSHA, the new leadership in the Department of Labor, and the impact on your industry.

New Leadership

To lead OSHA under the new administration, President Barack Obama has nominated a distinguished scientist at George Washington University, David Michaels. David not only has an impressive academic record, but also has led the worker health and safety program at the Department of Energy.

At DOE, he created the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. This program has provided billions of dollars to Cold War veterans who contracted cancer and other diseases while building this Nation's nuclear arsenal. David and I have been friends for many years and I'm confident that he will bring to OSHA a valuable insight into the role of science in the regulatory process. On Nov. 18, David's appointment was approved in committee; the next step is confirmation by the full Senate.

Meanwhile, OSHA is moving forward with an aggressive agenda.

Administration Priorities

OSHA has a single, consistent priority: To protect our Nation's working men and women from workplace injuries and illnesses.

In the 20th century, improvements in workplace safety in our Nation were earned mostly through tragedies - enacting reforms after workers died on the job.

In the 21st century, we need to move from reaction to prevention. This approach is very much on the mind of the new leadership in DOL and in OSHA, especially as we remember that more than 5,000 people continue to die on the job, tens of thousands more die of workplace disease in America every year.

Soon after I arrived at OSHA, I did something largely symbolic but nevertheless important to underscore our priority. In OSHA's main conference room in Washington, D.C., the prior administration filled one entire wall with photos of OSHA staff managers. I replaced their pictures with photos of workers killed on the job. The photos were lent to us by the husbands and wives, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers of workplace victims. Even at OSHA, we need to remind ourselves at every opportunity why we're here and the important work that we do.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 charged OSHA with writing and enforcing standards to protect workers. We're a regulatory agency, and under this Administration we're acting like one.

Enforcement Focus

On October 30, we issued $87.4 million in proposed penalties to BP - the largest in OSHA's history. We took this action when we determined that BP failed to correct potential hazards at its refinery in Texas City - hazards that continue to threaten workers' health and safety four years after safety violations at this worksite resulted in a massive explosion, killing 15 workers and injuring 170 others.

BP is just one of several recent, significant cases where OSHA has cited companies for egregious violations of workplace safety and health standards.

We fined Tempel Grain Elevators of Wiley, Colo., more than $1.6 million following the death of a teen worker at a grain storage site.

We've proposed more than half a million dollars in fines against Cranesville Aggregate for significant hazards at its cement and asphalt bagging plant in Scotia, N.Y.

OSHA also recently fined Loren Cook Company more than half a million dollars for alleged willful and serious violations after a worker was killed by an ejected machine part.

In fact, in the last two months, OSHA has addressed more egregious cases and issued higher fines than in the previous fiscal year. This reflects Labor Secretary Hilda Solis' commitment to refocus OSHA's priorities on writing and enforcing standards to protect workers.

I know that you understand OSHA's position. We're moving toward tougher citations and penalties not simply to punish, but to provide a powerful incentive for employers to respect their workers, integrate protection into business operations, and make prevention a priority.

We need to send the message that even in times of great economic hardship, we will not tolerate cutting corners on safety. Worker safety cannot be secondary to a healthy bottom line. It must always be a priority.

As another example of OSHA's renewed emphasis on enforcement, we're establishing a Severe Violator Enforcement Program. Under this initiative, we will concentrate our attention and resources on employers who demonstrate indifference to their OSH Act obligations. Any systemic problems that we find with an employer's safety and health program will trigger additional, mandatory inspections to ensure compliance.

OSHA will enforce our standards uniformly on all construction sites, providing a fair and level playing field for everyone in the industry, and OSHA will bring the full force of its citations and penalties to any contractor who violates the law.

More recently, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is giving a big boost in infrastructure projects around the country, such as highway, transit and energy construction. The federal stimulus funds have also, necessarily, prompted an increase in OSHA staff and inspections to make sure everyone who receives federal funding is following the rules and working safely.

Under this administration, OSHA will react swiftly to troubling trends. For example, responding to a spike in construction fatalities in Texas earlier this year, we launched a construction safety sweep in July, bringing inspectors to Texas from all across the country. We conducted nearly 900 inspections throughout the state, resulting in close to 1,500 citations and fines totaling almost $2 million.

With a renewed emphasis on enforcement, look for more - and bigger - citations to make sure that employers follow the rules and take worker protection seriously. Up till now, the average OSHA penalty for a serious violation has been less than $1,000 - a figure so small that I don't think it would deter anyone from cutting corners on workplace safety.

With more focus on enforcement and standards, OSHA is hiring. The fiscal 2010 budget calls for recruiting more than 100 new inspectors, more investigators to pursue whistleblower complaints, and more staff to help develop workplace standards for safety and health.

Also, Secretary Solis has challenged us to increase OSHA's diversity so that the OSHA of the 21st century will look like, sound like, and come from 21st century America.

Hispanic Summit

It's no secret to anyone here that, on the national level, more fatalities occur in construction than any other industry, and that each year one-third of all Hispanic workers killed on the job work in construction.

To address this deadly trend, OSHA, along with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and other agencies, is sponsoring a Hispanic workers summit in Texas in April 2010. As details take shape for this important summit, I hope you will help promote this event and participate by sharing your ideas as part of the solution to this national problem.

National Construction Report Card

From a national perspective, the 2008 numbers are clear: Falls and electrocution are the leading causes of construction fatalities. In fact, falls cause one in every three worker deaths in construction. If we can rein in this one cause of death, we can save the lives of more than 300 construction workers every year.

Fall protection seems so basic - enforcing the rules for railings, covering or barricading floor openings, using the right personal protective equipment, and all the rest - but the basics are essential and clearly vital to construction worker safety.

The same goes for electrical shock: Encouraging everyone on the job - not just electrical workers - to respect the rules, stay clear of power sources, avoid deadly shortcuts, and use their PPE...will go a long way to saving lives.

And because we know the leading causes of death on the job, they'll be a major focus in OSHA inspections to ensure that standards are enforced.

State Plan Oversight

When it comes to standards and enforcement, I think that everyone appreciates clarity and consistency, which is why OSHA is strengthening its oversight of state plans.

OSHA values state plans. Many have shown that they have the flexibility to address workplace hazards that are sometimes not addressed by federal OSHA, and this agency strongly supports their initiative and dedication.

Now and in the future, federal OSHA will work closely with state plans and provide assistance before a state's program becomes deficient.

OSHA will conduct formal studies of every state that administers its own program, like our recent evaluation of Nevada OSHA. Our aim is to achieve better performance and consistency throughout all the state plans.

Accurate Records, Good Incentives

OSHA is also concerned about accuracy in reporting workplace injuries and illnesses.

The GAO report on injury and illness recordkeeping, released November 16, contained a number of troubling findings, including evidence that OSHA's current audit process needs improvement.

The report also found that certain incentive and discipline programs can discourage workers from reporting injuries and illnesses and, most alarmingly, that a high percentage of health care providers have been pressured to adjust treatment or take other steps to avoid reporting injuries and illnesses.

Most of this information had been reported in studies and Congressional hearings, which prompted us on October 1 to initiate a major Recordkeeping National Emphasis Program to ensure that injuries and illnesses are accurately reported. This NEP will also put a special focus on identifying programs that may discourage workers from reporting.

OSHA needs accurate data to effectively target its inspections, allocate its resources, and measure the effect of this agency's actions on workplace safety. Employers and workers need accurate date to ensure that workplace hazards are identified and addressed. For these reasons, Secretary Solis and I welcomed the findings of the GAO report and assured the GAO that we will comply with the report's recommendations.

OSHA will not tolerate underreporting - especially intentional underreporting of injuries and illnesses. We will aggressively enforce OSHA's recordkeeping requirements and increase our efforts to ensure that employers and workers understand how important accurate data is to workplace safety and health.

posted a letter of interpretation requiring the use of high-visibility warning garments to protect construction workers in highway work zones

issued a direct final rule to protect workers from acetylene hazards

In the coming months, OSHA will -

continue working on a final rule for confined spaces in construction

publish a standard for electric power generation, transmission, and distribution

Most important, we are preparing the final rule in the new cranes and derricks rulemaking. We plan to issue this new standard in July 2010.

As we move forward on our regulatory agenda, I invite you to partner with us in issuing better and faster standards. I have no doubt that many, if not most, of the companies represented in this room exceed OSHA standards. When we propose a new standard, we want to hear from you. I'm not asking for your agreement on every regulatory proposal we make, but we do need to know what your best practices are and how our proposals would work in your workplace.

First and foremost we need standards that will protect workers, but we also need standards that make sense, and that's where we need your help.

We need constructive comments and criticism, and by this I mean: When we make a proposal, we'd like to hear from companies that have tested and embraced successful practices, and companies that can tell us with authority what works, what doesn't work, and what makes sense.

We will, of course, value the opinions and comments of the ABC, but we also want to hear from companies directly and individually as part of the public comment and hearing process.

If you'll step forward and support this approach, you'll see that you have a partner in this agency, not an enemy. On the other hand, should OSHA find itself confronted with reflexive, ideological rejectionism, dismissive complaints of "no science" in our proposals, and doomsday warnings of impending economic devastation, we'll simply stop wasting time talking to you.

Training and Education

Because safe jobs are OSHA's priority, OSHA advocates more and better training and compliance assistance. As everyone here knows, providing workers and employers with the knowledge they need to ensure safe working conditions is the best way to prevent workplace tragedies.

This is why, in September, OSHA awarded more than $6.8 million in Susan Harwood Training Grants to 30 recipients, including labor unions and trade associations. The training grants provide two years of support for the recipients' activities on behalf of our Nation's workforce. By early spring we expect to announce the availability of funding for the FY 2010 round of Harwood grants.

Meanwhile, OSHA continues to strengthen the integrity of its Outreach Training Program - 10 and 30 hour courses - by improving how trainers become authorized to teach and by ensuring that these trainers are in compliance with OSHA guidelines. To crack down on fraudulent trainers, the agency recently published an "Outreach Trainer Watch List" of those who have had their trainer authorizations revoked or suspended.

We are also monitoring the quality of classes under this training program to ensure that basic information is presented on worker rights and how to use OSHA's resources.

Finally, as more and more states and cities make the 10-hour course mandatory, we will remind them that these courses are not a panacea to all workplace safety problems. As valuable as they are as general awareness courses, they satisfy no OSHA requirements.

OSHA will also find ways to reach workplaces with improved compliance assistance. Compliance assistance is not a replacement for standards and enforcement, but it is a critical support that provides workers and businesses with the tools and knowledge they need to create safer workplaces.

We also want to begin a dialogue on how to reach small contractors who shop at home improvement stores, and day laborers who wait outside for work. We'd like to leverage support from these stores and share a strong safety message through posters and QuickCards, and establish a high OSHA presence in their in-store, how-to workshops. We realized that in these big stores, there are no posted reminders in the lumber or tool areas about the importance of workplace safety.

Cooperative Programs

Questions are always raised about the future of OSHA's cooperative programs, particularly its VPP and Alliance programs. A 2004 Government Accountability Office report asked OSHA to evaluate the effectiveness of our cooperative programs and, particularly, our Voluntary Protection Programs. As a result, we're making changes to the way OSHA is managing these programs to ensure that we can preserve what's best about them given a limited budget in the future.

We've also been examining where these programs fit within our mix of tools for accomplishing OSHA's mission, particularly in light of the fact that we know that the government's budget isn't infinite. The hard reality is this: In the coming years, we anticipate some belt-tightening and serious resource issues in the Agency.

As we look to the future of OSHA's cooperative programs, we also know that one of our major priorities - especially with our Alliances and Strategic Partnerships - must include active participation by all parties: labor AND management AND government

New Frontiers

Earlier this year, OSHA asked its Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH) to advise us on the impact of federal stimulus funds on construction worker safety and health.

At the invitation of the committee, businesses and organizations have made presentations on worker hazards associated with wind energy construction and green building, as well as ongoing concerns in roadway construction safety. At the advisory committee's meeting next week, a company will present information about electrical power distribution, transmission, and smart-grid hazards.

OSHA will look carefully at any advisory committee recommendations to update existing standards, consider new rulemaking, or offer guidance that can help protect construction workers.

Also, because prevention is a priority with OSHA, we are strongly advocating the concept of Prevention through Design. In fact, this is a major topic of interest to our advisory committee. Building into architectural designs strategic worker safety features, such as parapets and reinforced skylight framing that improve fall protection, can save the lives of thousands of construction and maintenance workers. We're looking for more ideas on this subject and ways to promote them.

Taking a longer view, OSHA will look for ways to streamline the cumbersome, lengthy rulemaking process. Some standards have taken more than a decade to establish, and that's not an acceptable, timely response when we find workers are in danger.

As we move forward on these and other workplace safety and health challenges, OSHA will need allies with spines and spirit, not only in the labor community but also in the environmental movement, and among scientists and sociologists.

We'll also need allies in the progressive business community who, instead of instantly rejecting every new OSHA initiative, will work constructively with America's labor unions and declare "Yes we can" - because we know that working together is the best way to achieve what we all want: safe workplaces for our Nation's workers.

Forward

I commend the ABC for strongly promoting health and safety in the workplace. OSHA looks forward to working with you as we have so effectively in the past.

As we move forward this year to tackle the difficult issues I've outlined today, we'll need your ideas, innovations, commitment and willingness to help us develop better construction safety and health in our Nation.

Along with new, 21st century technologies and new methods of building, it's time to apply new-century thinking to worker protection.

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